Geography is the new lesson for SESE this week. Find a lesson about France on the geography page!
05/05/20 Food and Farming in Ireland
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The first people arrived in Ireland a very long time ago in 7,000 B.C. (That’s over 9,000 years ago!) People back then needed the same important things that we need today – food, water and somewhere safe to sleep. This week we will be learning about the first of these needs – food.
These days, there are many shops where people can buy food – supermarkets like Lidl and Tesco and smaller shops like Spar and newsagents. We can even have food that grows in countries that are very far away – for example, bananas from Costa Rica in Central America and rice from Japan and Pakistan.
We can keep food fresh for a long time by putting it in the fridge or freezer. Some food comes in jars, tins or plastic packets to keep it fresh. I bought some ice-cream cones in a plastic packet that I can open and eat until 2022 – that 2 years away!
Now you will have to use your imagination to travel back 9,000 years. The very first people were just arriving in Ireland. Ireland was full of forests, grass and animals. There were no roads, no buildings, no electricity or taps or toilets, and certainly no shops! So how did the first settlers survive?
There were 2 ways to find food for the first people in Ireland – hunting and gathering. People had to hunt and catch wild animals for meat. They also learned to catch fish with hooks and nets. People could also gather wild plants, fruit, nuts and berries. They did not know how to plant seeds yet!
People lived this way, hunting and gathering, for about 3,000 years. They didn’t build houses because they moved around so much. They had to chase after wild animals wherever they went and once they had eaten the fruit from one tree, they had to move on and find a new one. There wasn’t much time for fun or relaxation.
About 6,000 years ago, in 4,000 B.C., people began to learn how to become farmers. Without farming, we would still have to hunt for our food today…
These people figured out how to collect and plant seeds to grow their own food. They also made the first fields and fences to keep their animals in. This meant that they no longer needed to move around all the time. So they decided to build houses. They often chose places near rivers so that they could water their plants, give their animals a drink, and drink, cook and wash themselves. These places turned into the first villages in Ireland.
Just like today, not everyone in these villages needed to be farmers. For the first time, people had a home and some free time. They learned to make cloth and jewellery. Some people became great cooks and others made tools and pots. As people became really good at their jobs, they started to swap or trade things (money still hadn’t been invented!).
Little by little, over 6,000 years, we have grown from these small farming villages into the towns and cities that we know today. Over 100 years ago, farms started using machinery to help with the work. The first tractors were invented and later on, the milking machine. Today, Irish farmers feed the 5 million people in our country and they export (send food) to over 180 countries around the world.
Here is a short video that tell the history of how people went from hunter-gatherers, to modern farmers.
Activity: What food do you think the hunter-gatherers ate? Find out HERE. Before you click, write down your prediction. Once you have found out what they ate, design a menu for a hunter-gatherer child - breakfast, lunch and dinner. Remember, they could only eat what they could catch or find. Be creative!
Once farming was invented, how do you think the children's diet (what they ate) changed?
20/04/20 The Maori People of New Zealand
New Zealand is a country near Australia. It is made of 2 islands and has about 4 million people living there - similar to Ireland.
It is part of a group of islands including Hawaii, Tonga, Samoa, etc. All these islands together are called Polynesia. (The islands inside the yellow area on the map. Some of them are so small they just look like dots!)
The first people arrived in New Zealand only 800 years ago. They came from the islands nearby. This makes New Zealand a young country. The first people arrived in Ireland about 9,000 years ago! The native New Zealand people are called the Maori people (say Mow - ree).
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Just like the Irish people loved to tell stories, so did the Maoris. We have heard the Irish stories of The Salmon of Knowledge, Tír na nÓg and Cú Chulainn but did you know that you have already met one of the main characters in the myths and legends from New Zealand? Anybody who has seen Moana will recognise this guy...
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That's right - Maui!! Maui is one of the most important characters in the ancient stories from New Zealand. Below is a short video that tells the story of how Maui went fishing. Instead of catching a fish for dinner, the legend says that he caught a fish so huge that it is now the North Island of New Zealand!
We are clever enough to know that this is not a true story but it is part of history because the Maori people used to tell stories about Maui and his adventures a long time ago.
Something else you may have heard of from the Maori culture is the Haka. The Haka is a traditional war dance. We often see the New Zealand rugby team performing a haka to scare the other team!
Below is a link to a website where you can find out lots more about New Zealand.
All About New Zealand
I am also including pictures of the pages from your History Quest 3 book. You can click on them to read about the history of the Maori People of New Zealand.
30/03/20: I put our history timeline at the bottom of this page. So far this year we have learned about:
- Ancient Egypt and the Pyramids
- Irish Myths and Legends: The Salmon of Knowledge, Tír na nÓg, and Setanta
- The Vikings in Ireland
- The Liberties
- Christopher Columbus' journey to America
- Tom Crean's journey to Antarctica (The South Pole)
- Games in the Past
- My Family Tree